Children of war: Picking up the pieces

Nineteen-year-old Mustaq works as a houseboy in Ras Al Khaimah, but between the ages of 10 and 15 he was on the front lines in Kashmir as a child soldier fighting the Indian government.

"Initially I found the idea of serving in an armed group extremely appealing," he said. "But later, I was tired and tortured. For six months I fled."

He managed to reach Srinagar, where he was taken in by an elderly family who had lost three children in the 1999 Kargil War. But Srinagar was still too close to the conflict, and his new family decided to make sure he was well away from the clutches of the militias, who may have snatched him back. "My new parents sent me to the UAE to work in a garment firm. I am now working in RAK with an Emirati family, as a housekeeper. I have had a hell of a life, but I am now in peace."

Shocking figures

Mustaq is one of the estimated 300,000 children who are forced to fight in conflicts worldwide. According to Ishmael Beah, a former child soldier from Sierra Leone and now a member of the UN Advisory Committee on Children’s Rights, "A child who recovers from war has a deeper understanding of the suffering brought about by violence and therefore knows the importance of living in peace. We can use the knowledge of such children for a better understanding of how to make peace in the world."

But not all child soldiers recover completely. War-affected children are often compelled to kill, or witness the killings of their brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, friends and neighbours. In fact, according to Trish Hiddleston, Middle East and North Africa Regional Protection Adviser for Unicef, boys and girls are used as "fighters, cooks, porters, messengers, spies or for sexual purposes".

Five-year-old Nahel lost his whole family – parents, sister, two brothers and his aunt – when their vehicle failed to stop at a Baghdad checkpoint and the US troops opened fire. He was taken in by an Iraqi NGO, and is now in the process of getting a new home in Dubai with South African civil engineer Peter Burns and his wife.

"We were desperate to have children, and when we heard about Nahel through a friend in Iraq, we lost no time," said Burns. They are currently trying to navigate through the complicated UAE adoption laws. "We do not want this to go wrong...let him not lose us," added Burns.

As a safe haven close to several conflict zones – Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Kashmir and troubled African countries – the UAE provides medical treatment and sanctuary to many children through organisations like the Red Crescent, All As One and initiatives like Dubai Cares.

Support groups

All As One, a Dubai-based charity founded by Matthew Morgan-Jones, runs an orphanage in Sierra Leone for its decade-long civil war victims.

Morgan-Jones, who has adopted four of the children himself, said: "We can choose to live in a bubble in Dubai. In fact, it’s easy to forget about poverty elsewhere. But All As One has received tremendous help from Dubai. In fact, the generous residents of Dubai have done much to make a huge difference to the lives of our children."

According to the Integrated Regional Information Network, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Dubai, "Doctors in Iraq have thanked the UAE government for helping injured children."

"Injured children require urgent plastic surgery or physiotherapy after losing limbs, which Iraq cannot offer," said Dr Haydar Abdul-Kareem, of the Medical City Hospital in Baghdad. "In the UAE, these children get proper treatment."

Helping hands

The UAE Red Crescent helps war-injured children in conjunction with Al Mafraq Hospital, Abu Dhabi. According to Dr Khalid Al Jaberi, Medical Director at the hospital, "The UAE government bore the entire expense of over 10 cochlear implants of war-affected children from Iraq recently.

In fact, along with the Red Crescent, the government is in the process of bringing in more war-affected Iraqi children suffering from congenital heart diseases due to air pollution." Other injuries that may be treated are blood cancer and skin diseases from chemical weapons used by the former regime.

 "But children are most affected psychologically. Caught in the midst of fighting, they are in a state of constant shock and see blood and damage all over. While some need surgery or medical attention, others need rehabilitation and social therapy," Dr Al Jaberi added. The UAE government has an agenda to rehabilitate over 100 Iraqi children who have suffered physical and psychological injuries in the Iraq War.

According to John Sloboda, co-founder of the Iraq Body Count Project and Executive Director of Oxford Research Group, UK, "Between March 2003-2005, nearly one in ten of those killed in Iraq was under 18.

Nearly one in 200 of those killed was a baby aged two, while most adult victims were parents leaving behind orphans." The Child Care and Culture centre in Iraq estimates that in Iraq alone, 300,000 children were born with deformities as a direct result of the war.

"We’re sitting around drinking coffee and complaining about the traffic, while children are dying of preventable diseases," Morgan-Jones said. "If someone tells me he thinks I’m great, I say, ‘What can you do to help?’"

Child soldiers

According to the charity War Child, each year, 300,000 children worldwide are actively deployed in wars. These children fight as soldiers, perform espionage or reconnaissance activities and provide sexual services to army commanders. They are deployed in nearly 75 per cent of all armed conflicts worldwide, both by regular armies and other armed groups, such as militias, paramilitaries, rebel groups and gangs. Of these, 80 per cent are younger than 15.

The charity says children are often encouraged to commit suicide attacks or are used as a human shield. Al Qaida recently released a training video specifically aimed at children.

Case studies

Eighteen-month-old Mariama from war-torn Sierra Leone is a happy, bubbly toddler today. But she was born with a severe cleft lip and palette.

"In Sierra Leone, the operation is just not possible," said Morgan Jones, her father. "With the intervention of All As One and generous donations from Dubai, she was able to travel to the US to have corrective surgery, without which she may have simply died."

Four-year-old Retaj from Iraq suffers from ichthyosis, a dermatological condition caused by genetic abnormalities. Her dry outer skin exfoliates like a fish, swells and sticks out of her body. From head to toe, her entire body is infected. While there is no cure for her disease, Retaj is stigmatised by other children.

"They don’t want to play with her because they think she looks weird. This bothers her a lot," said her mother. "I can only use petroleum jelly, but I’ve had to keep her without that for months because of the war - Iraq is a 24-hour war zone. The weapons used by the troops have polluted the air immensely. Ever since Retaj came to UAE, her skin has felt better. The air is a lot better here."

Anis Khaleel, 17, from Baqubah in Iraq has a congenital heart disease that hinders the flow of oxygen in his frail body. His lips, fingers and feet are blue because his valves and arteries are not functioning properly. Anis and his father have travelled to the UAE in search of medical assistance.

Dad Ahmad says, "Last year, we approached an Iraqi NGO and gave them Anis’s medical reports. In nine months’ time, we managed to arrive in the UAE for his treatment."

Painting for peace

Dubai British School teacher Sara Lowndes Rostek helped organise the UAE’s first ‘peace painting’ as part of the grassroots Kids’ Guernica project which currently operates in more than 30 countries and aims to raise awareness among children about the effects of war.

"While we were working on the painting, students learnt why there is violence in the world and how we can try to stop it," she said. A year nine class at the English College Dubai raised Dh3,500 for All As One. Director Matthew Morgan-Jones said: "When children help other children, it teaches them to be compassionate."